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A spacious two bed room apartment in the heart of Beijing

A spacious two bed room apartment in the heart of Beijing

Want a taste of real Beijing life in the very heart of the city without compromising the comfort of modern living? This newly remodeled two-bed-room apartment is situated inside a historical villa built by Rockefellers as a residential villa for the doctors of the Peking Union Hospital at the turn of last century. The apartment itself is over 60 years old with sturdy architecture, high ceilings, plentiful of windows for natural lighting and is certainly hard to find in the area these days. Only minutes walk to many attractions in Beijing: Oriental Plaza, the famous Wang Fu Jing shopping district, Tian An Men Square and to public transportation, including subway No. 1 and 5.
Although located in the heart of Beijing, the apartment gets its tranquility and peace from the shelter of matured trees, shrubs and flowers through out of the villa. It comes with living room, one bathroom, kitchen, dinning room. Hardwood floor through out the living room and bed rooms. Ceramic titles in the kitchen, dinning and bathroom. There is a electric fire place in one of the bed room. It is fully furnished with wash and dryer, refrigerator, microwave and all the kitchen equipments such as rice cooker, coffee maker and more. WiFi and cable TV are also available. It basically have everything. All you have to do is to move in. The villa has 24 hours security guard on the site.
Room cleaning is available every other day for daily renting. Short term and long term lease are all welcome. Due to big discount for the rate of monthly renting, room cleaning is available with extra charge.
Keywords: 2-bed room apartment, fully furnished, wash/dryer, full private bathroom, dinning room, newly remodeled, quiet neighborhood, near public transportations, subways, near major attractions

Overview

Details

Property

apartment

Sleeps

4

Bedrooms

2

Bathrooms

1

About the property

Apartment, 2 Bedrooms + Den, 1 Bath, (Sleeps 2-4)

Want a taste of real Beijing life in the very heart of the city without compromising the comfort of modern living? This newly remodeled two-bed-room apartment is situated inside a historical villa built by Rockefellers as a residential villa for the doctors of the Peking Union Hospital at the turn of last century. The apartment itself is over 60 years old with sturdy architecture, high ceilings, plentiful of windows for natural lighting and is certainly hard to find in the area these days. Only minutes walk to many attractions in Beijing: Oriental Plaza, the famous Wang Fu Jing shopping district, Tian An Men Square and to public transportation, including subway No. 1 and 5.

Although located in the heart of Beijing, the apartment gets its tranquility and peace from the shelter of matured trees, shrubs and flowers through out of the villa. It comes with living room, one bathroom, kitchen, dinning room. Hardwood floor through out the living room and bed rooms. Ceramic titles in the kitchen, dinning and bathroom. There is a electric fire place in one of the bed room. It is fully furnished with wash and dryer, refrigerator, microwave and all the kitchen equipments such as rice cooker, coffee maker and more. WiFi and cable TV are also available. It basically have everything. All you have to do is to move in. The villa has 24 hours security guard on the site.

Room cleaning is available every other day for daily renting. Short term and long term lease are all welcome. Due to big discount for the rate of monthly renting, room cleaning is available with extra charge.

About Betty Wu

I was born and raised in Beijing, as matter of fact, in the very apartment I am renting out.

Because this apartment is situated in a western style villa, I had a lot more space and friends when I grew up compared to many kids grew up in typical Chinese courtyard. I still have fond memories of the games we used to play in the green and spacious courtyards. We used to chase each other on top of the brick walls and climb the trees.

Now we have all grown up and left the villa. We only come back to visit once a while. The villa has far less kids nowadays.

Eventually I left home too, after college and went to the United States for graduate school.

Now I have returned to live in Beijing with my cat and two sons who keep me very happy.

Betty Wu purchased this apartment in 2002

Why Betty Wu chose Beijing

I was born and raised in this apartment until I went to the United State for graduate school. For many years this was the only place I called home. I have many memories of this apartment.

The villa this apartment is situated is a historical villa built by the Rockefeller family as residential villa for the doctors of the Peking Union Hospital at the turn of 20th century. Although the apartment is the newest building in the villa, it is over 60 years old. It is the only 'modern' style building in the villa, which consists of some 30 houses and townhouses with gardens throughout. The villa has been declared by the Beijing Municipal Government as a historical site.

The alley, or hutong, where the villa is located is also full of history. During the Ming Dynasty the hutong was called 'Shi Da Ren Hutong' after 'Master Shi', who was a powerful general at the time. He built a mansion on this very spot in 1456, which is one of the eight famous mansions in Beijing.

Its current name, 'Waijiaobu', means Department of Foreign Affairs. It comes from the Qing Dynasty when the guest house of the Department of of Foreign Affairs, designed by an American Jerry Johnson, was built. It later became the site of the Department of Foreign Affairs complex during Republic of China era. It was one of the most luxurious Western-style buildings in the capital at the time.

When I remodeled the apartment, I had in mind providing modern comfort as well as preserving the original architecture. I selected only top quality materials for renovation. The bathroom cabinets, some furniture, and paint for the walls are imported from United States. I kept the high ceiling, deep window cells, and door paths which were special features from the original design. In addition, some of the furnishings are from when my parents lived here. Some of them are over 70 years old.

What makes this apartment unique

The best feature of the apartment is its location. While it is located in the heart of Beijing it is in a quiet and secluded neighborhood. Tucked away in the back of a historical villa it is sheltered from the busy street. Although it the villa is located in the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world, there is no sense of the fast paced urgency that exists right outside its walls.

The villa also features a beautiful common garden for residents to enjoy. There are many old trees that provide shade and tranquility. This is especially welcome when the greenery help soothe the heat and humidity of the Beijing summer.

Another nice feature of the apartment is it's near many attractions. The famous Wangfujing shopping street and the Oriental Plaza are only a short walk away. The Tienanman Square, Forbidden City, Line 1 and Line 5 subway stations, as well as a multitude of museums, temples, and other attractions, are also nearby.

Comfortable apartment in wonderful location

My daughter and I had the pleasure of spending 4 nights in Betty's apartment as we began our 12 day adventure in China. The location, off a quiet courtyard, provided a great base for our daily exploring. The first day we spent walking to Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, enjoying the local cuisine, and shopping. Kevin was our enthusiastic, very knowledgeable tour guide on day 2 and 3 as we hiked the Great Wall and visited more local attractions. I highly recommend using Kevin's services and Betty's communication before we arrived was very helpful. Great experience!

Oasis in a great location

This apartment was in an ideal location as a base camp to explore Beijing as a tourist. Many sights were in walking distance, and there was easy access to two main subway lines. The apartment itself is in a quiet courtyard with a bustling local neighborhood immediately outside; thereby giving a wonderful taste of city life, but the ability to relax away from the noise and heat. The place was very spacious (6 rooms!) and comfortable. If I came on extended business in Beijing, I would want to stay here as well since there is also a well supplied kitchen (which we didn't use much since we wanted to explore Beijing's culinary treats). One thing to consider if this place is right for you--The apartment is located in a older unique complex with many local families. We tried to have a light footprint so that places like this can continued to be offered and available without neighborhood resistance.

Wonderful place to stay in Beijing.

Great location just a few minutes from a train station. Very easy to get to all the major sights to see. Lots of shops, restaurants nearby. In a very quiet location despite just a few minutes from a major street. I think it would be very difficult to find on your own without very detailed instructions. We had Kevin pick us up from the airport and also had him take us around for a few days. I would highly recommend using his services. Reasonable priced and very knowledgeable about everywhere we went to see. Wear good shoes! We covered a lot of ground in two days. I also recommend greatwallhiking.com if you want to see the wild wall, which was fantastic! We stayed six nights and had a great time. I would definitely stay here again.

We took the trains back to the airport and in two hours we were sitting at the gate. Piece of cake.

Comfortable apartment in a great location.

We had a great stay at the apartment. The location was perfect. We were able to walk to the Forbidden City. It was close to the subway which was only a few stops to Lama Temple and the Chinese Acrobatics show. There were plenty of shops and restaurants nearby. The apartment was plenty big for our family of 6. There were some cots provided for the kids. We really appreciated the washing machine and dryer!!! Not many places have a clothes dryer. There were lots of DVDs and books for us and the kids. We were provided with maps and information about the rental and area prior to arrival that was very helpful. The only thing I would change would be having a code lock for the door. Instead we met up with someone to provide the key. Took a little time waiting outside the hutong. Wasn't too bad but we have rented a number of vacation properties that had a door code or lock box. It makes it easier and more flexible for check in. Would recommend to friends or family.

Submitted: Nov 9, 2016

Stayed: Oct 2016

Source: VRBO, from HomeAway

Owner's Response: Dear Jennifer:
Thank you very much for your feed back. I appreciate your suggestion regarding having a code lock for the apartment. We have looked into the option before but came to conclusion that it's best to have someone in person to greed our guests upon their arrival since the apartment is located in the back of a big complex, it could be challanging for guests to find the place on their own, especially for later arrivals. But, we will look into the option of having a code lock in place and at the same time continuously having someone greet our guests in person in the future. We are committed to provide best staying experience for our guests. Thank you again for your feed back.
Betty

The apartment is conveniently located in the very heart of Beijing downtown - 5-10 min walk to two subway stations (Dongdan and Dongshidonggou) and is also in walking distance to some of the main sights such as Wanfujing Street, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace. There are numerous local restaurants nearby.

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